


Day 029

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [29]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-24 23:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22466299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Relationships: Jansen/Wanda
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 029

Wanda was already awake, feeding Jansen jr. when her husband’s screaming started. It was about the blight this time. He was calling out warnings to her about hurlocks sneaking into the Bone Pit.

Her heart hurt for him, but she didn’t know what to do. Every day he put on a brave face and went back to that horrible place, and he came home a little more dead inside. Jansen used to be a man who loved jokes, Wanda had barely stopped smiling the first few years they had known each other. He had kept his humor even when the blight ravaged Fereldon and they had been forced to flee their home. He had kept his humor when they had lived in the refugee camp when they arrived in Kirkwall. But the Bone Pit had slowly sucked the humor from him until all that was left was a tired man who screamed at phantoms in his sleep.

Wanda grabbed a broom from the wall and struck Jansen gently in the side a few times. He woke up, flailing his arms and legs about, his screams reaching a crescendo before quieting down. He muttered an apology and went back to sleep. The others who shared their sleeping area said nothing, the next night it might be one of them screaming. Wanda hoped Jansen would sleep through the rest of the night. She swaddled Jansen jr. in his blankets and climbed into bed beside her husband. It took her a long time to sleep and she was thankful that her nightmares were the silent kind.

The morning bell sounded an hour before dawn, calling the miners to their work. There were many wives and children that lived with the miners and Wanda met up with a few of them after the men had left. She had taken a few days off work after Jansen jr. was born but could afford no more days of rest. Despite Jansen’s increased pay as foreman, they had barely been able to feed the both of them never mind adding a third mouth. 

Juetta, Alrun, and Phyllis worked with Wanda at the weavers guild. It had been years before Fereldon women could find work in the city, but eventually a few of them had landed some good work. It paid next to nothing but if they complained about it their jobs would just go to elves.

Phyllis had miscarried last year and Wanda let her hold Jansen jr. while they worked. She cooed over the boy, and praised his strong handsome features, though at barely a week old, he looked more like a ball of chub and tears then anything resembling a man.

Wanda shifted in her seat often throughout the day. The healer had done wonders for her, his reputation was well deserved, but that didn’t stop everything from being sore and tired.

The head weaver was angry as the slow speed that Wanda was working and threatened to dismiss her if she didn’t pick up the pace. Phyllis was scolded as well, she had been so distracted by Jansen jr. that she had also fallen behind. For the rest of the day Juetta and Alrun switched with them so that by the end of the day they were all behind, but not so much that any of their jobs were at risk.

Than night Jansen came home with more energy then she had seen him with in years. He was practically bouncing as he walked.

“Look here,” he said holding out a bag to her. He looked around nervously as if afraid what the others would do if they saw the bags contents. Wanda undid the string holding it closed and looked inside. There were more coins in there then she had ever seen. She closed the bag and shoved it back into Jansen’s hands.

“Where did you get all this?” she asked. All the time they had spent struggling to scrape by and he was sitting on a small fortune.

“I’ve been saving up,” he explained. “I know times are hard but I had an idea right? Some of the richest people in the city are moneylenders. If we start our own money lending business I won’t need to work in the mines no more and you won’t have to keep weaving and can take care of our little boy.”

“Do you even know how to run a money lending business?” Wada asked. She was starting to shake with worry. So many things could go wrong. “If we stop working and things don’t work out we might not be able to get our jobs back and then where will we be? Two Fereldons in Kirkwall with no jobs and a new baby!”

“I know enough to get started,” Jansen protested. “I’ve been asking around talking to folks. If we offer a better interest rate then the other lenders we can get lots of business.”

“What will we do if people refuse to pay?” Wanda asked.

“Well,” Jansen said. “We’ll only lend to people we trust to start out. Plenty of people here just need a bit of money to get them on their feet. Porett has an in with some traders but just needs some money for an initial investment.”

“I don’t know,” Wanda said. “I’m so scared of everything that could go wrong.”

“Please,” Jansen whispered, pulling Wanda into a tight embrace. “I can’t keep going back to that pit. I have to do something to get out. Please…”

Wanda thought about everything that could go wrong, about ending up widowed and destitute on the streets with a new baby. She didn’t know whether or not that was more likely if Jansen left the Bone Pit or if he stayed. She also thought about all the times she had woken up to her once unshakably happy husband screaming, trapped in his dreams by monsters. She thought about a lot of things and realized she had no answers.

“Alright,” she said finally. “Let's do it.”


End file.
